Capitalists: It’s human nature for a small number of individuals to take control of the planet’s fresh water supply and demand that people pay in order to use it.
I’ve definitely reblogged this before, but I just think it’s super cute because there are like “golf manners” where you’re not supposed to make a huge ruckus but like EVERYONE felt it warranted cheering because HOLY SHIT THAT WAS A GREAT SHOT.
Ai Weiwei is a contemporary artist and activist, utilizing artistic mediums of sculpture, architecture, photography, film, and installation to convey his charged political beliefs. Throughout his life, Ai has been overtly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on human rights and democracy, personally investigating incidents of governmental scandal and corruption, such as the Sichuan earthquake student casualties. In 2008, Ai was arrested and held for 81 days without any official charges, allegedly for “economic crimes.” Ai’s assistant, Wen Tao, has remained missing since Ai’s detention.
Artistically, Ai’s work bears western influence, notably from the time he spent living in the U.S. Upon returning to China, he helped establish an experimental artists’ village in Beijing and co-published a series of books about modern artists. Ai has published numerous documentaries and exhibited visual art and architectural installments all around the world. The asteroid 83598 Aiweiwei is named after him.
The Coca-Cola Urn originated from the same assortment of Han Dynasty pottery as Ai’s famed Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn—Ai transformed an antique vase into a piece of contemporary art by painting the Coca-Cola logo on its front. Coca-Cola Urn figured among the world’s most renowned pieces of contemporary art, serving as a metaphor for the clash between consumer-driven progress and the preservation of historical artifacts. It was eventually acquired by Uli Sigg, who destroyed it in a photographic triptych entitled Fragments of History by artist Manuel Salvisberg that was a near replica of Ai’s Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn.
Departing Obama Tearfully Shoos Away Loyal Drone Following Him Out Of White House
WASHINGTON—Stopping and turning around as he made his way across the South Lawn after hearing the unmanned aerial vehicle hovering just feet behind him, outgoing President Barack Obama tearfully shooed away a loyal MQ-9 Reaper drone attempting to follow him out of the White House, sources confirmed Friday. “Go on now—get out of here!” said the former commander-in-chief, his lower lip trembling and his eyes welling with tears as he affected a stern tone of voice in an attempt to scare off the faithful hunter-killer drone that had spent the past eight years obediently at his side. “You can’t come with me anymore, you got that? Can’t you see this is for your own good? Now scram. What are you waiting for? Go!” At press time, a heartbroken Obama had thrown a rock in the drone’s direction, causing the unmanned aerial vehicle to flee into the sky, where it paused to look back one last time at its old master before flying off toward a Yemeni tribal wedding.
Moana for us represents many things — harmless entertainment, some might see it as a documentary providing a missing piece in a cultural identity puzzle. Some see Moana in a pedagogical role, a teaching tool that will help others learn more about us. And some of us see Moana as an extension of the Disney moneymaking apparatus and evokes a painful ongoing pattern of colonialism, imperialism, exploitation, homogenization, cultural theft and appropriation in the Pacific.
All are true and problematic all the same.
But there is a danger when we say that we must take one side or the other. This absolutist point of view is divisive, and to unjustly label family and friends employed by Disney or those who work in cultural entertainment as cultural prostitutes is detestable.
The bigger truth is this: we live in a complex age of inevitable consumerism and capitalism. This is the world that is imposed on us, so we occupy this world as involuntary or voluntary participants, as colonized people, in colonial settler roles, as transnationals, and as members of diasporic communities around the world. Capitalism is demanding and unforgiving. Engagement for many of us is out of necessity.
On the flip side, we can also be critical of Disney’s capitalistic aims and side-eye their claims of doing justice to our stories, without having to be dismissed as “haters.”
Ultimately, what saves Disney’s Moana from the shit-show train wreck it could have been is the work of the Oceanic Story Trust and the breakthrough performance of its star, Auli’i Cravalho.
[…]
With that said, as we go to the theaters, I hope we will make a conscious choice for just one time, as I know many of us will see it multiple times, to transcend being mindless consumers and become resisting spectators, and recognize that the eye candy we see on the big screen are really just surface, readily accessible manifestations of deep cultural treasures that Disney, nor any outsider, can never touch. These treasures can only be felt by the heart and by our own lived experiences.
And when we see the character of Moana overcoming great odds on the big screen to save her village, even at the risk of losing her own life, we aren’t witnessing anything new that we don’t already know about ourselves — love, sacrifice, determination, resilience, family, reciprocity, conservation and stewardship of the planet are the hallmarks of our rich oceanic culture, values that have existed long before Disney mined our stories, values that can never be replicated in box office ticket and merchandise sales.
nulla da ridire sull’artista e dissidente Ai Weiwei, ma sempre più spesso ho la convinzione che “l’arte” sia “idee del cazzo” supportate da del buon marketing
areudirty
yousharknotpass
prguitarman
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
stormborns
